London. What Will You Find When You Dig?
An Archeologist’s Dream
For centuries, people have lived there. Starting in the Bronze Age (2000–600 B.C).
Recently, when construction workers were clearing the foundation of a 38-story building, they found a fresco from ruins of an early Roman building. The fresco was dated by experts to be around A.D. 60, making it one of the earliest Roman frescoes yet found. It was 10 ft. long by 6 ft. high which made it the biggest as well.
Down through the ages, London has always been lived in. From the Romans to the Victorians, each adding to the pile.
The challenge for archeologists is it is a modern, bustling metropolis with more than eight million inhabitants. Opportunities to lift the concrete veil and look deeper are few and far between. But, there has been a building boom and it has given up archaeological goodies.
Most of the archaeology has been near the river Thames, some 11,000 years ago to the late Victorian; at the end of the 19th century. Artifacts have been preserved because of a small stream called the Walbrook that empties into the Thames. Its marshy banks and waterlogged soils preserved almost anything that fell into them. It’s called “good old English damp” by one archaeologist. “Thanks to the Thames and its tributaries, London has one of the best environments for preserving artifacts that anyone could hope for.” https://imaginaryforces.com/project/national-geographic-magazine https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/2016/02/sunken-city-londons-archaeological-dig
Well, I would love to go there since I found this information in an old “Nat Geo” magazine I had stuffed in a box and forgotten about.
As the “Underground” subway system is built construction workers come across so much history. The archaeologists are called and they have a load of fun pulling out all sorts of historical items.
They also find a lot of bones and skeletons from the time of the Black Plague. Scientists are wondering why the Black Death, as it was also called, never returned after 1665 which killed between 75,000 to 100,000 people. They want to run tests on some of the remains in hopes to learn about the evolution of the plague bacterium that killed so many. Up until that time it was a regular visitor.
It could have been the Great Fire of 1666 after which, St. Swithins Church was rebuilt.
Also, of interest to me, is the London Stone. It was in the middle of the road, until 1742, then it was moved to the side and became a part of a building. It is said that if it is lost or broken then that would be the end of London. It is the start of history of archaeology in London.
Jo Ann Harris is an author, parent, book devotee, writer, copywriter, and film fanatic. She is an autodidact who learns about everything and rows her boat. She grew up, worked in Atlanta, Georgia, and lived there for sixty years. She writes articles about love, hope, personal life stories, advice, and poems. She is a published author with an article in Woman’s World magazine in October 2017.